The Adventures of...: Days 29-30

Day 29, 20 miles, endpoint PCT mile 511

We woke up well rested, relaxed, and ready to devour some pancakes. Joe Anderson manned the pancake grill and told stories about his times in the Sierras. The pancakes came with boysenberry sauce and strawberries on the side, plus coffee. All in all, a great morning. I would like to point out that while people like the Andersons are called "Trail Angels" and do what they do out of the goodness of their hearts, it does cost money for the things they provide to the hikers. Whenever we stay with a Trail Angel, like we did with the Andersons, we provide them with a monetary donation. This is really the right thing to do, as it allows them to continue the fun/awesome/helpful things they do for hikers. It is not expected by them, but it goes a long way in helping to cover some of their costs (like the taco salad and pancakes). The trail wouldn't be the same without people like them. So...if you are a hiker and are reading this, make sure you donate!

We got a ride back to the trailhead and set off on our glorious road walk around the closed fire section. I really truly do not want to ever complain about anything during this trip; I am extremely lucky to be out here, and I am essentially taking a five month vacation. But today sucked! It was painfully boring. The road we were on meandered along with not much in the way of excitement or scenery. The good news is that road walking is faster, so we covered ground much quicker. We also had a highlight of seeing a snake reach out, grab a lizard, and eat it--right in front of us on the road! Some real National Geographic stuff.

After 8 miles we arrived in the small town of Lake Hughes and the Rock Inn, a biker bar in built out of stone. Since it was Sunday there were lots of motorcyclists out for rides and the place was packed with all sorts of people in matching leather jackets. I don't know much about biker gangs, but their outfits were pretty awesome. In my opinion, the best looking jackets were the Devil's Disciples and the F-Bombs. Needless to say, Josh and I fit right in.

After burgers and fries we hit the road again for 12 more boring miles. Due to our lazy morning, it was already getting dark when we finally reunited with the PCT so here we are, camped right next to the fire closure. We will hopefully get to our next big town stop, Mojave, in 3 more days. Before then we face more desert and dryness.

Yes it does.

These signs are all too common. This area would actually open just days after we were here.

Just another snake in our path. I think he is smiling at us.

Island for sale?

Looks like a nice property was burned from the fires.

Something tells us this might be a biker bar.

Road walkin'.

Day 30, 27 miles, endpoint PCT mile 538

Today is our one month trail anniversary. It's kind of crazy to think we have been out here for that long. Over the past month I have not slept in the same place for consecutive nights. I have seen something new and different every single day. It has been amazing and strange and hard and awesome and beautiful and challenging and everything else in between. We have about four more months of this adventure left, so there is much more to come.

We got up in the dark and started hiking early, hoping for a big day. The first 7 miles were scenic, with green rolling hills. At that point we crossed highway 138 and stopped at a place called Hikertown to refill our water. Hikertown is someone's home next to the trail; hikers can stay overnight and resupply packages can be sent there. I have to say, I am glad we did not stay there last night. That was one of the creepiest places I have been to in my life. The place was a small compound set up like a tiny village, with signs outside small buildings saying things like "post office," "school," and "jail." It had a weird, depressing, run-down, horror movie set feel to it. I half expected Chuckie to jump out from behind a curtain and run after me. We noticed a pickup truck parked by the entrance gate with police lights attached to the front hood. It was not a police car. As Josh said on our way out, half-joking, "this is where people get murdered!"

After that things got worse. The trail started to follow the Los Angeles aqueduct, which meant that for miles and miles we followed the covered aqueduct along flat, dusty, ugly terrain. There was really no redeeming value in the distance we covered, except for maybe the occasional cool looking spikey joshua tree. In the distance we could see the hills that the original PCT planners had hoped to use for the trail. Unfortunately, the private land owners at the time did not approve trail access, so we were stuck circling around those low mountains all day long on the aqueduct.

This stretch could have been worse if it was hot; the area is completely exposed with no shade. Oh, and there's no water for 17 miles of it. Luckily the high today was somewhere in the 78 degree range, so it was tolerable.

We ended the day in a large wind farm. The trail goes under and around countless spinning giants; we are camped close enough to them right now that I can hear the swishing of their arms and see their red lights blinking in the dark.

We won't make it into Mojave tomorrow, but will definitely be there the day after. We will climb back into some hills tomorrow, which will be nice since it has been mostly flat stuff the last couple of days.